site.btaUPDATED Bulgarian Football Union Holds Congress, to Elect New President
The Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) is holding a congress Friday where it will elect a new President. Opening the forum, outgoing President Borislav Mihaylov said that attending are 464 delegates from 540 football clubs.
The congress comes after Borislav Mihaylov resigned as BFU president on November 27, 2023, after a wide-scale protest by football fans took place on November 16, 2023. A total of seven contenders are running for his post: Dimitar Berbatov, Mihail Kasabov, Georgi Ivanov, Petyo Kostadinov, Manol Ivanov, Georgi Gradev and Georgi Zahariev.
The resignation was accepted in a 303-12 vote. The delegates then voted to discharge of responsibility the Executive Committee.
Mihaylov read a report on his team's work, thanked the people, and called the last two years "football in a time of cholera" where the most important task was "to preserve football from the toxic environment that wanted to take it over".
The management presented the financial results for 2022 and 2023 and they showed a positive result for the BFS: revenues of BGN 19.812 million and expenses of BGN 16.864 million in 2022, and surplus of BGN 618,000 for 2023.
BFU Vice President Mikhail Kasabov spoke first of the contenders to present his views if elected. He outlined some things he considered important and argued that the first steps that need to be taken are to gradually take the league championship out of the BFU control and allow the Union to focus on youth and amateur football. "I can't promise change with a magic wand, but there will be eight new members of the executive committee," he said.
The sports law expert and former goalkeeper Georgi Gradev started with a quote from the classic Don Quixote and talked about freedom and its value. Then he promised that if he wins the vote for the President's office, he will work for Bulgarian football without pay. Earlier in the day, he told reporters that information had reached him about Mihail Kasabov and Georgi "Gonzo: Ivanov, also a candidate for the Presidency and considered a favourite of the current BFU Establishment, had agreed to share the presidential and vice-presidential positions, and that Gonzo had offered 5,000 BGN to clubs to support him in the vote.
The most high-profile candidate, Dimitar Berbatov spoke third among the contenders. He didn't say anything new and urged the delegates to "think carefully before voting because in their vote is the future" of football. He promised to be very active and stressed how he, Stiliyan Petrov and Martin Petrov - together on the field in their active years, and now friends and supporters, have not parted.
/MT/
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